King County's 13th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

The annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a time for all of us to reflect upon how far we have come in the past year and to prepare for the challenges that will face us in the New Millennium. I encourage all King County employees to attend the 13th Annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, "Bridging Cultures - Celebrating Differences."

When: Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000

Time: 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
With a presentation of Living Voices’ "The Right to Dream"
following the program from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

Where: The Fifth Avenue Theatre
1308 - 5th Avenue
Downtown Seattle

I encourage Department Directors, Division Managers, and Supervisors to permit their staffs to attend the Celebration. The event will be broadcast on King County Civic Television 22 and on Seattle City Cable Channel 21 for those who cannot attend.

The annual Humanitarian Awards will be presented during the program. Speakers will include Bill Wassmuth, former Executive Director of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and Reverend Leslie David Braxton, Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Seattle. New this year, will be the Civil Rights Commission’s awards for the best eighth grade student essays on the work of Dr. King. Living Voices will be doing an excerpt of their program "The Right to Dream" during the event and presenting the whole program from 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

In past years, shuttle buses to the Celebration have been underutilized. If you would like transportation to the event, please contact Karen Buehler, of the Office of Civil Rights Enforcement, by the close of business on Monday, Jan. 10, 2000. You may reach Ms. Buehler either by phone, at (206) 296-7592-V/TTY 296-7596, or via e-mail. Please be sure to provide your name, location, phone number, and the number of people who will require transportation. Unfortunately, we cannot provide transportation on an individual basis, but we can accommodate service for groups of five (5) or more. We encourage employees to "buddy up." If there is significant interest, the MLK Celebration Committee will try to arrange transportation options and respond back to you by Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000. For Metro ridership and scheduling information related to bus routes that serve the Fifth Avenue Theatre, please visit King County’s transportation web site at http://transit.metrokc.gov.

The Fifth Avenue Theater is accessible for people with disabilities. If you need reasonable accommodations, please contact Karen Buehler at 296-7652- V/TTY 296-7596.

For more information about the program, please contact Bailey deIongh, Manager of the Office of Civil Rights Enforcement, at (206) 296-7592.

It will be great Celebration; I hope to see you there!

Ron Sims,
King County Executive

Link to: "Bridging Cultures - Celebrating Differences", King County's web site celebrating the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.